The Holidays

Since Sean was an inpatient 4 1/2 hours away from home, we decided to pick him up and spend Thanksgiving with his brother's family in Mankato, MN.  We had a fun weekend!  It was such a relief to see Sean relaxed and smiling, although he was very tired.  We enjoyed being together as a family and seeing our niece and nephew. 

Thanksgiving 2009

The program ended on December 23rd, so I made arrangements to leave school early that day.  The plan was to drive to St. Cloud, load Sean up, and drive home--a quick 10 hour trip!

The Christmas Blizzard of 2009 that brought snow from Canada to Dallas, TX started that afternoon.  My youngest daughter K and I set out before the storm began.  Several times I talked to Sean and warned that the weather was going to get bad.  He wanted to come home for Christmas so badly that he insisted I try it anyway. 

We drove in freezing drizzle, then sleet, then some light snow on the way to St. Cloud.  The roads were drivable, but it was definitely slowing us down. 

When we arrived in St. Cloud, the sky was clear and snow had stopped.  We quickly got Sean loaded, ran through the drive thru and got back on the road.  As soon as we left town the sky opened and snow came falling full force.  The storm was forecast to last at least three days, meaning if we had to stop somewhere along the way we would likely be stuck there until the weekend.  I did not want to have our family separated for Christmas, so we decided to go town by town and make our decision to stay or go along the way. 

The roads quickly got nasty.  The wind cut visibility to nearly nothing.  The snow packed onto the roads.  At times I was simply following the tracks I could see in front of me.  It was possibly the most tense drive I have ever made.  I prayed the whole way home that we would be safe and not go off the road or get stranded. 

13 1/2 hours later we made it home. . . . and got stuck in the driveway trying to get into the garage! 

With the storm we were blessed with a quiet Christmas, just the five of us snowed in the house for four days.  It was one of the most peaceful and relaxing holidays I have had in a long time.